DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 vs Inkling-Small: Specs & Benchmark Comparison

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is developed by DeepSeek, while Inkling-Small comes from Thinking Machines Lab. Both were released in July 2026. The two are similar in size, at about 304 billion and 276 billion parameters respectively.

The two models share 2 published benchmarks. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 leads on 2 of them. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 2.1, where DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 scores 83.0% against 64.7%; Toolathlon, where DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 scores 70.0% against 54.4%. Averaged across everything we track, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 sits at 57.5% and Inkling-Small at 60.3%.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is the cheaper API at $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.28 per million output tokens, roughly 2 times cheaper than Inkling-Small at $0.30 and $1.20. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 256K for Inkling-Small. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 accepts text as input, while Inkling-Small accepts text, images, and audio. On tooling, only DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports function calling and only DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 offers structured output.

CharacteristicDeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731Inkling-Small
CompanyDeepSeekThinking Machines Lab
Release DateJuly 31, 2026July 30, 2026
Parameters304B276B
MultimodalNoYes
Context (input)1.0M256K
Context (output)393K256K
Input Price / 1M$0.14$0.30
Output Price / 1M$0.28$1.20
Average Score57.5%60.3%
Benchmarks
Terminal-Bench 2.183.0%64.7%
Toolathlon70.0%54.4%

Visual Benchmark Comparison

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731
Inkling-Small
Terminal-Bench 2.10.8 vs 0.6
0.8
0.6
Toolathlon0.7 vs 0.5
0.7
0.5

Verdict

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.

Overall Performance

Both models show comparable average scores: DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 — 0.6, Inkling-Small — 0.6.

API Cost

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is 3.6x cheaper: input $0.14/1M vs $0.30/1M tokens.

Context Window

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports a larger context: 1M vs 256K tokens.

Recency

Both models were released around the same time: 7/31/2026 and 7/30/2026.

More About These Models

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for coding — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or Inkling-Small?
Direct comparison on the SWE-Bench benchmark is not available. We recommend reviewing other metrics on the comparison page.
Which model is cheaper — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or Inkling-Small?
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is cheaper for input: $0.14 per 1M tokens vs $0.30.
Which has a larger context window — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or Inkling-Small?
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports a larger context: 1,000,000 tokens vs 256,000.

The DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 and Inkling-Small comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or Inkling-Small page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.